Claire’s Cow Troubles
by Awesome Rapidash
Summary: Claire wants to get a cow so that she can have fresh milk everyday. However, she's not prepared for the responsibilities of owning an animal. What happenes next is a complete suprise to her! Please read and review.


_**A/N:**__ I've had this story floating around for a while now and finally decided that it should be finished. Basically, it follows Claire through the trials of owning her first cow. _

_Thank you to my co-author __**Peach the Hedgehog**__.___

_**Disclaimer: **__We don't own Harvest Moon, so don't sue us!___

_**Claire's Cow Troubles**_

The warm summer sun streamed through the window of Rose Farm, warming the face of the farm's blonde haired owner. Claire's eyes fluttered open and she turned to gaze at the clock located in the small table next to her bed. A groan escaped her lips as she slipped out of the soft comfort of her bed. She woke up at 6:00 AM just like she did every morning. And after putting her slippers on she headed towards the bathroom to take a shower.

After her shower the petite farm girl dried herself off and dressed in her usual flannel shirt and overalls. She walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. She opened the fridge and she rummaged around for a bit. Finally she emerged with some eggs and a bottle of milk.

After placing the eggs in a pot of water to boil she popped the top off of the milk bottle. A sour smell assaulted the blonde haired girl's nose. "_Hmm.., the milk appears to have gone bad."_ She mused to herself as she examined the bottle's lumpy contents.

Disappointed at the discovery the blonde haired girl walked over to the sink and dumped the spoiled contents down the drain.

"There has to be a better way that this," she said out loud. Suddenly, a lightbulb seemed to turn on in her head. "I know what I'll do! I'll just buy myself a cow!" she chirped happily.

With a new purpose for the day she quickly ate her breakfast of 3 eggs, 2 slices of bacon and some lightly buttered toast. After finishing her meal, she washed the dishes and headed outside to feed her chickens and water her crops.

It took her most of the morning for Claire to finish her chores. Just before noon she put her tools and watering can away. Then after closing the large wooden doors of her barn, she walked down the dirt path and out of her farm's gate. She paused to make sure the gate was closed and latched before heading down the path towards Yodel Ranch.

She arrived 15 minutes later and walked through the ranch's overhead gate. As the moved in the direction of the barn she was greeted by May.

"Hi, are you here to play with me?" the young girl questions innocently. "I'm so bored. There's no one for me to play with after all," she added with a sigh.

"Sorry May, I'm not here to play with you today," Claire replied apologetically. "Is your Grandpa around? I'm here to buy a cow," the blonde farmer explains to the young black haired girl.

"Aww…, but I wanted to play," May replied in a sad voice. She sighed and kicked a few small pebbles with her toe. "I think my Grandpa is out in the barn," she added as she pointed towards a large reddish structure directly behind the house.

Claire thanked the 9 year old and began to walk over to the reddish colored building. She pushed the wooden door open and looked inside. At fist she didn't see anything except empty stalls. Walking inside, she finally saw the elder rancher standing next to a pen containing a large black and white cow.

"Umm.., hello there," Claire said as she approached the man. "I'd like to buy a cow."

Barley turned around and faced the blonde haired girl. "Eh, what did you say?" he questioned. "I'm kind of hard of hearing."

"I said that I wanna buy a cow," Claire repeated, this time a little louder.

"Well you've come at the right time," Barley answered with a smile. "I have the perfect cow for you just over here," he added, leading Claire over to another pen.

Inside the hay lined stall she saw a large black and white spotted cow. "Oh, she's so cute!" Claire squealed merrily. "I'll take her!"

Barley nodded and informed Claire of the price. The farmer girl smiled and took out her money, handing the correct amount to the ranch's owner. Barley sweetened the deal by offering to bring the cow to Claire's farm for her. The honey haired girl accepted the offer. After all, she had other errands to run in town.

After completing all her errands, Claire finally returned to her farm around 5:00 PM. She excitedly walked out to the barn and hurried inside. She moved over to the animal pens and saw her cow lounging inside. Walking over to the bovine she pondered a name for her newest farm animal.

"Hmm.., how about a name for you?" She said to the mooing animal.

The large spotted animal just ignored her and began to munch on some fodder.

Claire thought about some possible names for a little while, considering several possibilities before she finally decided. "I got it, I'll call you Ai!" Claire chirped happily. She gazed fondly at the cow now named Ai.

Apparently unhappy with the name, Ai mooed angrily and turned her back on the blonde haired farmer. The petite farmer didn't really pay to much attention to her cow's apparent dislike of the name she'd just given her and walked out of the barn.

For the next few days Claire attempted in vain to get Ai to let her attach the milking machine to her udder. Each attempt ended in failure as the cow resisted the young farmer with all she had. Frustrated, Claire moved the black and white bovine outside, hoping that the sunlight and fresh air would improve her spirits. This done, she then headed into the house to eat lunch.

After finishing her lunch, Claire headed back out to the pasture to see if Ai's mood had improved at all. A look of shock filled her face as she approached the cow's pen and found it empty! Panicked, Claire looked around for the large animal. Finally after a short search, she located Ai in her garden munching happily on her flowers.

"Hey, what are you doing out of your pen?" Claire demanded as she approached the cow.

Ai didn't even look up; she simply mooed indignantly at her owner. Frustrated and a bit angered Claire tried the move the large black and white animal back to her pasture. But Ai would have nothing to do with that! Instead, she began to walk away, swishing her tail defiantly at the farm girl. The now agitated farmer once again tried to wrangle her renegade cow back to its pen. This time however she slipped and fell face first into a mud puddle left over from the previous night's rainstorm.

"Ahhh…, now I look like a swamp monster!" She shouted as she looked at herself. Sighing loudly she abandoned her attempt to capture Ai for the moment and walked inside to clean herself up.

45 minutes later Claire came back out her house to once again try and return Ai to her pen. Looking around she began to panic, not seeing Ai anywhere! A quick search of the farm revealed that the gate was open and a set of muddy hoof prints leading towards the center of town!

"Oh no!" the honey haired girl gasped as she realized that Ai was heading towards town! She quickly began to follow the trail of muddy prints, hoping to find her crazy cow before it can destroy Mineral Town!

Everywhere Claire went, she saw that her cow had been there, and had already left. This was proven by several munched flowers and grass. Some of the townspeople gave a look to Claire. Many shook their heads at her, thinking she needed to take better care of her cow. They knew it was her cow since Barely would never let it go on like this.

The honey haired girl happened to be close to the supermarket when Karen happened to take notice. The other girl had her hands on her hips as she stared at Claire. Hey, can you do something with your cow? She is getting into everything!"

Claire gazed at Karen apologetically. "I'm sorry, Karen. I thought I closed the gate so Ai couldn't get out..."

The brown haired girl with the blonde highlights in her hair raised her eyebrows. "You named your cow Ai?"

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Claire inquired.

"Well, not personally. But that's not the point anyway." Karen reached out and grabbed Claire's wrist. "Follow me."

At this point, as Karen was leading the way through town, Claire allowed her imagination to get the better of her. She could somehow see Ai not only munching on everything, but knocking down things. But, the damage wasn't as bad as she was making it seem. A few munched on flowers and some other plants, but other than that, the damage could have been much worse.

Eventually, Karen led the girl to the village square, where the black and white cow was found, munching on the pink catmint flowers that were in front of the sign board, which in turn was knocking over. Karen let go in time for Claire to rush toward the bovine.

"There you are, Ai! I've been looking all over for you!" She tried to go behind the animal to give her a push. "Come on, we are going home now."

Again, the cow ignored her, and continued to eat the flowers in front of her, causing Claire to growl in frustration. Ever since she got this cow, she has had nothing but trouble!

"Claire, tell me," Karen said as she walked forward. "Why did you get a cow in the first place?"

"I got her so I wouldn't have to worry about sour milk anymore," the farmer girl admitted.

"And because of that, you didn't even consider the cow's feelings too," Karen remarked.

"What do you mean?" Claire demanded.

"Well, I remember the day you got that cow," the other girl replied. "You didn't seem to worry that much about her, and you left to head back at around 4:20, right? Have you even tried brushing her, talking to her? And that name... I have a feeling that she doesn't like Ai."

Claire stared dumbfounded at Karen. "When did you become an expert on how to raise cows?" she questioned.

"Ever since I went to Mary's library," Karen explained. "She is my best friend after all. I do visit her every now and again. I read a book about cow care since I had nothing better to do. I might recommend that you read it, to know how to handle a cow." Karen started to leave, and then looked over her shoulder. "And give a better name for your cow why don't you?" she suggested as she walked off.

Claire stood still for a moment in surprise. As she thought about it, she realized that Karen was right. All she wanted was some milk before, and she didn't even consider her cow at all. A cow needed loving care too. She looked over at the still eating cow.

"You really don't like Ai?" She asked. As if the cow could understand her, she mooed at the girl. "Well... how about Daisy? Do you like that?"

The cow mooed happily at the name. Claire grinned, thinking she finally got on her cow's good side. But, when she attempted to push Daisy back to the farm, the cow wouldn't move, as she wasn't done with her meal. Claire sighed a little, but managed a small smile. It seemed she still had a long way to go.


End file.
